ELISE QUAGLIATA, mezzo-soprano, has recently garnered notice for her dynamic stage presence, theatrical range and musical intelligence. Her 2006 performance of Carmen with Pensacola Opera captivated the critics, one of whom pronounced her "one of the finest Carmens I have ever seen" (Mobile Register) and another "simply riveting" (Pensacola News Journal). Her "striking, bold tone, superb diction and excellent acting" (Des Moines Register) was also noted in her performance of Nicklausse in Les contes d'Hoffmann for Des Moines Metro Opera.

In 2007, Ms. Quagliata was among four winners in the Liederkranz Society’s Lieder Competition, and will perform in recital with other winners at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. She was also the 2005 winner of the Metropolitan Opera's District Auditions for New York City.

In the upcoming season, Ms. Quagliata will be heard at Florida Grand Opera as Cornelia in Guilio Cesare, Carmen in La Tragedie de Carmen, and will cover Dorabella in Così fan tutte. She will also reprise La Tragedie with Opera Omaha. In the summer of 2006, Ms. Quagliata was a Young American Artist with Glimmerglass Opera, performing Tetka in Jenufa and covering Mme. Carre-Lamadon in the 2006 premiere of Stephen Hartke's The Greater Good. In January of 2007, the artist also covered Marianna in Rossini's Il Signor Bruschino for Gotham Chamber Opera in New York.

Previously, Ms. Quagliata has sung Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with The National Philharmonic and Rockland Opera, and Bertha, also in Barbiere, with Pensacola Opera. Other roles have included Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, Arsamenes in Xerxes, Lišak in The Cunning Little Vixen, Thisbe in La Cenerentola, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Rosine in Signor Deluso and Cecily in La Divina. She has also been heard in a variety of Gilbert and Sullivan roles.

Ms. Quagliata's solo orchestral credits include upcoming performances of Beethoven with the Buffalo Philharmonic, in a special 70th Anniversary Concert honoring the Orchestra Chorus, and Montsalvatge’s Cinco Canciones Negras with the Pensacola Symphony. Previous performances include Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody and Mozart’s Solemn Vespers with the Buffalo Philharmonic, El Amor Brujo of Manual de Falla with the New Hampshire Symphony, and Mahler's Rückert Lieder with the University of Connecticut Orchestra. Additional credits include solo work in Bach, Handel and Gluck.

An impressive recitalist, the artist was heard this season, in addition to her Weill Recital Hall appearance, in a joint recital at the University of Connecticut with composer and pianist Jake Heggie where her singing was regarded as "masterful". Adept in a variety of repertoire from contemporary to early music to jazz and cabaret, Ms. Quagliata has been especially lauded for her exceptional performances of American, Czech, German and Spanish works, and praised for the "glorious grace" and "spine-tingling flourish" which has characterized her Cole Porter and Richard Rodgers.

Ms. Quagliata began her career as a Studio Artist with Chautauqua Opera and continued as an Apprentice and Ensemble Artist with Des Moines Metro Opera, Resident Artist with Opera Iowa, and Resident and Mainstage Artist with Pensacola Opera. Holding named scholarships and graduating Summa Cum Laude, Ms. Quagliata trained at the University of Michigan and the University of Connecticut. The artist sang in Siena (Accademia Musicale Chigiana), and was chosen for the German for Singers program at Middlebury College. She placed second in the Amici Vocal Competition and was a finalist two seasons running in Palm Beach Opera’s National Competition.